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Health
A jury in California awarded more than $2 billion to a couple who sued Monsanto saying that exposure to the weed-killer Roundup caused them to contract cancer, including $55 million in “compensatory” damages to make them whole for their injuries, and $2 billion in punitive damages to punish Monsanto for its reckless disregard for human health.
Continue Reading 421 wordsIn anesthesiology, there are two primary gasses used to put patients under for their procedures–sevoflurane and desflurane. Generally during surgery whatever the patient does not inhale is pumped outside at a detriment to our planet because both gasses are potent greenhouse gasses. But as anesthesiologist Brian Chesebro discovered, desflurane is 20 times as powerful in […]
Continue Reading 418 wordsCalifornia’s tough environmental regulations — and its divide with the Trump Administration on all things environment — just got bigger. The San Francisco Chronicle and The Washington Post reported yesterday that California is placing a ban on agricultural use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos, which is used on a wide variety of crops “from apples to walnuts” because it is harmful to the farmworkers who spray it and children who ingest it.
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The Department of Agriculture (USDA) ordered Tyson Foods to recall nearly 12 million pounds of frozen chicken strips because they may be contaminated with pieces of metal. There were six incidences of consumer complaints of metal in the chicken, three of which resulted in injury.
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This week the Environmental Protection Agency maintained in a new decision that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the widely used herbicide Roundup, does not cause cancer and is safe for human use. This decision comes despite thousands of lawsuits against the chemical’s manufacturer Monsanto and its parent company Bayer arguing that exposure to Roundup causes […]
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As we’ve been chronicling, flooding throughout the Midwest has been devastating these past few weeks and according to NOAA’s forecast, the flooding danger still isn’t over. Countless homes have been lost and many people still haven’t been able to return home and are in need of relief efforts for things like laundry, showers, and even […]
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For years, that discussion had been dominated the impacts of rising sea levels. Now, the state’s medical community is sounding the alarm about the health risks associated with rising temperatures. Whether it’s a longer allergy season, air quality issues or mosquito-borne illnesses, heat is already making people sicker, they say, and the nearly 60% of Miami residents who live paycheck to paycheck could be the most in danger.
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A new study published last week raises further concerns about pesticide exposure – this time linking it to a higher risk of autism. The study found that pregnant women and children who lived within a mile of agricultural areas with lots of pesticide use had a higher likelihood of developing autism, and a much higher risk of developing severe autism if children were exposed in utero and an even higher risk if exposed during their first year
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A jury in a second case, this one in federal court, has reached the conclusion that the weed killer Roundup causes cancer, according to numerous news outlets. The second stage of the trial began yesterday — in this phase, the jury will decide whether Monsanto is liable. However, the decision is significant because there are over 4000 other similar cases pending in courts around the country and this determination of causation will likely have an impact in the other federal cases.
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The burden of air pollution is not evenly shared, according to the American Lung Association, poorer people and some racial and ethnic groups are among those who often face higher exposure to pollutants and who may experience greater responses to such pollution. Now a new study published this week in the journal PNAS found that […]
Continue Reading 377 wordsMany people including the president are cheering news of HIV cure in 2nd patient. You know what happened? SCIENCE. Science isn’t a goal, it’s a process of knowledge. And it applies to vaccines, climate change, and the wonder of understanding our universe and natural world. — Dan Rather (@DanRather) March 5, 2019 This week for […]
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Yesterday the EPA released its long-awaited plan to address Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) a family of chemicals that are linked to cancer and other illnesses, and that are found widely across the U.S. in drinking water and soil. But the “action” plan, which promises to begin a process by the end of the year […]
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